Electric block-signaling and telephoning system for railways.



No. 759,741. PATBNTED MAY 1o, 1904. C. G. OTWBLL & 1. H. MELVIN.

ELECT-R10 BLOCK SIGNALING AND yTELEPHONING SYSTBMFOR RAILWAYS.

APPiIOATION FILED FEB. 1l, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES i Patented May 10, 1904.

PATENT OEEICE.

CHARLES GOODMAN OTWELL AND IRA HOWVARD MELVIN, OF LAUREL, DELAWARF.

ELECTRlC BLOCK-SIGNALING AND TELEPHONING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 759,741, dated May 10,1904.

Application filed February 11, 1901i. Serial No. 193,179. (No model.)

To o/,ZZ whom 111'; nui/.y concern:

Be lit known that we, CHARLES GOODMAN O'iwELL and IRA HOWARD MELVIN,citizens of the United States, residing at Laurel, in the county ofSussex and State of Delaware, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Electric Block-Signaling and Telephoning Systems for Railways, ofwhich the followingI is a speciiication.

This invention relates to an electric blocksignalin g and telephoningsystem for railways, the object of the invention being to provide aneffective means of this character for indieating simultaneously to twoengineers their presence in a common block and for also permittingtelephonie communications by said engineers or the telephoniecommunication of either or both of them with a central or other station.

While we have used the term engineen we do not wish to restrict the useof the system to steam-railways, for it may be employed. equally wellwith other kinds of railways. In like manner we may utilize instead oftelephones telegraphic instruments for transmitting intelligence fromone person in charge of a locomotive vehicle or train to another or to acentral station.

In the system which we have selected for illustration in theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, the samecomprises a plurality of series of parallelconductor-rails, the adjacentrails of the respective series being insulated from each other,electrical connections between the alternate rails, and telephonie ortelegraphic conductors electrically connected with said connections, avehicle or vehicles being' provided with contact to traverse the saidconductor-rails, which contacts are connected electrically withsuitablellsignal and telephonie means upon the vehicles, whereby theresults sought are obtained.

Referring to said drawings, Figure l `is a diagrammatic plan view of anelectric blocksignaling' and telephoning system including' ourinvention. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation showing by dotted lines avehicle. Fig. 3 is a diagram of portions of the signal and telephonecircuits. Fig. 4" is a sectional detail hereinafter more particularlydescribed.

While we use herein the term rail, this term has been adopted simply forconvenience, as it is obvious that structures of a form other than railscould be employed to secure the transmission of'signals and speech orsound in the manner contemplated by the invention.

Referring to Fig. l, the numeral 5 denotes a pair of parallel rails ofthe usual construction, over which the trains or vehicles travel, and wemay arrange outside or between the same the plurality of series ofparallel conductor-nails to which reference has hereinbefore been made,said conductor-rails, which are in the nature of main conductors, aswill hereinafter appear, being suitably insulated from the ground. Inthe particular form of the system illustrated (see Fig. 2) theconductor-rails, which are denoted by G, are situated outside thetraclerails 5. It will be seen upon reference to Fig. l that theadjacent rails of the two series (5 are insulated from each other, andthis result may be secured by separating the adjacent ends of the railsthe necessary distance from each other. The conductor-rails, as will bealso seen upon an inspection of Fig. l, are electrically connected inalternation, and the conductors or wires 7 are shown for this purpose.While the respective wires or equivalent conductors 7 connect everyother rail, this is not essential, for they may connect electricallyevery fourth or iifth rail, this being dependent upon the length of therespective conductor sections or rails or the length of the blocks.4

The telephonie conductors are'denoted by 8, (see Fig. 1,) and they maybe arranged overhead or underground or in some intermediate plane, asdesired, andthey are shown connected with the electrica] connection 7between the respective conductor-rails by wires or similar conductors 9.

A vehicle is shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. It carries in somesuitable manner the trailing contacts 10, which may or may not be ofwheel or roll' form, said trailing contacts 10 being adapted to traversethe parallel series of conductor-rails 6.

In Fig. 3 we have shown the electrical connections between the travelingcontacts 10, a signal, and a telephone, the signal being denoted by 11and the telephone by 12. The signal is shown as being of the audibletype, it consisting in the present case of a bell, although a signal ofa different character may be employed. Ve prefer an audible signal to alamp, flash, or other signal.

A wire 13 extends from one of the traveling contacts 10, the one shownon the left in Fig. 3, to the switch 14, a wire 15 extending from thecontact 16 to the signal'll. From the signal 11 the wire 17 extends andis connected with a wire 18, connected at its opposite ends to a battery19 and telephone 12, respectively, a wire 21 leading from the battery 19to the other contact 10, or the one shown on the right in said Fig. 3.The wire 22 leads from the telephone 12 to the contact 23, the switch 14being cooperative with said contact 23 and being normally on the contact16, for a purpose that will hereinafter appear. It will be understoodthat the wire 22 leads from one terminal of the telephone, while thewire 18 leads from the other end thereof. Normally the switch 14 bridgesthe break between the Wires 13 and 15, in which relation it ismaintained positively by a coiled spring, as 24, and against a stop orpin 25. In this way the signal-circuits when two trains are within aprescribed distance of each other are closed, so as to assure theringing of the bell 11 or the sounding of another audible signal shouldabell not be employed.

In practice the batteries 19, carried in the cabs of the respectivelocomotives or other Vehicles, are of such strength as to causeasounding simultaneously of the two bells 11 when two trains or vehiclesare within a predetermined distance of each other in order to announceto the engineers in the cabs such fact.

Let it be assumed that two locomotives are upon the oppositeconductor-rails c and L in Fig'. 1 (and we have shown diagrammaticallysuch a conditition in said figure) and at a prescribed distance apart,the signals in the two cabs will be sounded in synchronism. The currentwill then take the ifollowing path: from the battery 19, wire 17, bell11, wire 15, switch 14, wire 13, trailing contact 10, and on the otherside from the battery 19 and wire 21 to the other contact 10. Leavingthe contacts 10, the current traverses the conductorrails a and fromthence goes to the connections V7, to the rails and then follows alongconnections in another cab exactly like those illustrated in Fig. 3.When the two signals are sounded, the two engineers can communicate witheach other by throwing the switch 14 or can communicate with a centraloliice to receive instructions therefrom. When the switch 14 is thrownonto the contact 23 by either engineer, his telephone is put intocircuit with the wires 8, and the-current will then travel from thebattery 19 to the wire 18, telephone 12, wire 22, switch 14, toconductor 13, to Contact 10, and on the other side from the battery 19,by the wire 21, to the contact 10, and the two contacts being againstthe conductor-rails i and the latter being connected to the wires 8 bythe wires 9 the telephone 12 will be put into circuit with the mainstation, and if theother engineer throws his switch 14 both engineerswill be put into telephonie communication.

The telephones or equivalent instruments maybe mounted in alocomotive-cab or any other part of the locomotive, or, in fact, theycan be situated in any convenient place on a train or other vehicle.

The system is inexpensive to install and will work either in snowy orsleety weather and does not disturb the usual railway-rails or theroad-bed of such railway-rails, and owing to the fact that theconductor-rails forming a part of the improvedl system are independentof the railway-rails said system will remain operative notwithstandingaccidents to the railway-rails.

The conductor-rails are insulated from the ground, and a means for thispurpose is shown in Fig. 4. The numeral 30 designates a block socketedto receive, the insulating material 31, into which the shank 32 isthreaded, said shank being tubular to receive the stem of therailsupporting member 33, said rail-supporting member being representedas forked to receive the web of a rail. It will be understood that thereare a series of these supports 33 for each rail (the parts beingsuitably united t0- gether) and a corresponding number of blocks 30 andadjunctive devices. The stems of the terminal supporting members 33 areshown as connected by the wires 7, which wires extend throughperforations in the bottom of the blocks 30. Between the supportingmember 33, or rather its head, and the tubular stem 32 we Jrit a shieldor guard 34 to protect the parts below the same from the action of waterand the like.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. In a system of the class described, a plurality of series of parallelconductor-rails, the adjacent rails of the respective series beinginsulated from each other, electrical connections between the alternaterails, and soundtransferring conductors electrically connected with saidconnections.

2. In a system of the class described, a plurality of series of parallelconductor-rails, the adjacent rails of the respective series beinginsulated from each other, electrical connections between the alternaterails, and soundtransferring conductors electrically connected IOS TIO

IIS

with said connections, combined with a vehicle having1 a signal and atelephone, trailing' contacts adapted to engage said rails, andelectrically connected with the ,signal and telephone respectively, anda switch to 'put the signal or telephone into circuit with said trailingcontacts.

3. ln a system of the class described, a plurality of series oli'parallel conductor-rails, the adjacent rails of the respective seriesbeing insulated from each other, electrical connections between thealternate rails, and telephonic conductors electrically connected withsaid connections, combined with a vehicle havinga trailing contactadapted to engage one ot' said conductor-rails, a switch electricallyconnected with said trailing contact, a

fixed contact normally positively` held engaged with said switch, asecond fixed contact rnan-` ually engageable by said switch, a secondtrailing contact adapted to engage the other con ductor-rail, a signaland a telephone, and electrical connections between the two liXedcontacts, the signal and the telephone, and hetween said signal andtelephone and said second trailing` contact, including a generator.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence oi' twosubscribing witnesses.

CHARLES GOODMAN O'lWELL. I RA llOWAltl) lll E lIVlN. mfitnesses:

JOHN H. ELLIOTT, l Jol-1N T. MELSON.

